First Win!

So I am a serial runner-up or nearly-there or also-ran..........The first time I have ever lead an ultra was this year at a 30 miler and in the last 10 mins or so, took a wrong'un and ended up 6 miles off course.

This all changed this week. I won something! I have the lovely Keith at http://www.ULTRAmarathonRunningStore.com to thank for that........a Twitter competition in which I won a Nuun hydration bottle and half a dozen Nuun tablets to go in it. Great stuff as I needed a new bottle anyway.

Not only that, I will be putting a small ad on the blog as the last 3 ultras I have run with one of the excellent rucksacks that are stocked by Keith.....the ultraAspire Revolution which is a bottle holder which can fit an OS map and a jacket and food in and is the first ever racepack I have carried since the excellent Salomon Raidlight that fits me and doesn't either chafe/fall apart or otherwise. I'll do a product review in due course.

I'll be purchasing the FastPack later in the spring after the Xmas bank balance receives fiscal stimulus in the paypacket department. I'll want to run the SDW100 without a crew and depending on the date my awesome sister-in-law Kim plans her wedding date in I will also be running another 100 this summer.

Ok, the win was a small one but out of small acorns, mighty oaks (winnings) grow.

Final piece of news this week is that I am off to Eldoret in July. Eldoret you say? WTF is that? It is in the mountains of Kenya. Yes......I have been asked to supervise a group of teachers and 6th form students from school to go to the mountains above the East African Rift Valley. I will be staying about 5km from the athletics track that Brother Colm O'Connell trained the greats including David Rudisha. Obviously I have work to do in the school but I will be finding out everything about the 5am runs that these guys get up to.......and perhaps introduce them to 100 mile ultras which I hear is not the "done" thing over there.

New Year's shenannigans

Happy New Year to all!

A New Year's swim and run.

An amazing new year spent with friends on the most southerly and also most deserted part of South Devon, Prawle Point. On the SW Coastal Path (SWCP) the landscape is barren, rugged, windswept and after many serious floods and landslides, extremely difficult running conditions.

Each evening in our huge Lighthousekeepers' Cottage, each would prepare a different meal, with copious amounts of alcohol from different global locations, washed down with cheese and whatever other surprises that were on offer. This left all of the runners in the group fully prepped for a morning and/or evening blast along the coast!

The SWCP is a 630 mile long navigation from Poole, Dorset to Minehead, Somerset around some very rugged coast. The South Devon section, from Dartmouth to Portsmouth is 83km long. Each bay consists of a drop down to sea level from no more than 138m (452 ft) and then back up again. Sometimes you have to come inland a little......

 So a every couple of miles you have the same 450ish ft drop and up to the top again. Some of the coastline through is far more exposed as at Gammon Head where I ran with the light fading on the first day of the holiday with a headtorch. My plan; to do some of the SWCP and do the road back in the Dark. Well, I ran up to Prawle Point only for the lookout keeper to state she was shutting for the day as it was gale force 8 with a 9 on the way in the next hour.....bring it on.

This was the first view I was treated to as the light faded (I took this shot a couple of days later in the morning) with the twisted path rising and falling around the rocks into the distance at Gammon Head. After running and been blown up in the air at one point, I headed inland at Gara Rock a few miles down the coast and donned my headtorch to return via road. Only 7 miles but such exhilaration I had to take the boys down this path the next day, which we did, only this time in the horizontally driving rain. Luckily Matt and I were in waterproof jackets but Karl was suffering over the last couple of miles, soaked to the skin!

Then came a lovely run or two with Mrs UB. Muddy to say the least!

It was then time for something completely different and that was a Charity New Year's Day swim up the Atlantic Coast nearer to Plymouth. About 50 brave souls took part including Karl in his mankini and Mr and Mrs Broccoli as well as myself. Waiting for Mr and Mrs B on the beach in our shorts for 10 mins was pretty cold but we were all ushered into the sea by the organisers. Most had wet suits on.

We didn't!

So it was nice to warm up afterwards with a hot chocolate and then a couple of pints in the pub.

It was then onto walking the SWCP to Salcombe and back with the crew, including stopping off for lunch at a pub where many jokes were cracked after spotting a minor celebrity and his chavvy ex-model slapper wife! I had another couple of shorter runs with Mrs UB and then my final challenge. To run to North Hallsands and back. This place is well worth a visit or even a quick Google as it is called the lost village for reasons that will become clear if you research it. Tragic story and perhaps a cautious tale of how not to mess with the land and the sea. This trip was the only time I donned a rucksack as I knew it would be a long and slow journey 2200ft of ascent and descent in only 13.5 miles.  Off I went and quickly realised it would get muddy......

.....and then the path was shut and so for a detour up the hill and back down again. This was fine as I was expecting this having chatted to the locals about the route. It seems that a house had to be evacuated as the whole front garden and driveway to the main road had disappeared into the sea in a mudslide. Well i had to see this! But...on the way back. The top traverse took in a bridleway that was been used regularly by farmers and cows and was un-runnable as you can see from above!

Onto Start Point and then Hallsands for the last part of the out.....

Just running along this path that traces the contours and rocks whilst teetering on the edge makes you feel that this is what running and exploring is all about! Awesome! Almost nobody save for the hardy rambler and a nutter flying over rocks and ledges.

Finally on the return it was time to see the landslide. Word had it that a family evacuated from this holiday home on Boxing Day after hearing the thunder of the wet mud cliff disappear and the sea wash it away. I scooted down on the beach and took a pic, then instead of taking the diversion up the hill, climbed along the rocks and up a cliff along the coast. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins and after the top, 20ft of gorse cut my legs and arms up. My next couple of miles were quicker as my heart was beating like a bastard!

On a slow and steady run back to the house, so ended my running on the SWCP for the time being. I did find these TrailBlaze Geocaching markers which I will save for the next blog, as this was a missed opportunity to run a self-navigate, anytime ultra using geo-caching.

As Arnie famously stated......"I'll be back!"

Awesome year

Olympic Torch Relay Crystal Palace Running to the Park, a photo by ultraBobban on Flickr.

This time last year I was returning to Mersea Island for Xmas with the folks and a run round the Island.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24bWizFLzfk

Looking back sat in our lovely cottage in south London and awaiting both families to arrive for an amazing Xmas I can reflect on an awesome year. Not only did I get married to Mrs UB, which was the most amazing day ever, we had the perfect honeymoon in Sri Lanka.

On a running front, it was all about one event......my first 100, the SDW100. Firstly, I wanted to finish (readers will remember that 2 years ago, a leading consultant at King's said I would never run a marathon again after breaking my leg in 3 places...."maybe some light jogging Sir") a 100 miler and catch up with great buddies David Immune, Jezza and George. Not only did I want to do that but I wanted to prove that I could do it. I then set a goal of finishing in under 24hours. I did this too! Add in another 11 marathons and ultras and 2028 miles (3264km) so farand I've had an awesome year......not the quickest, but the furthest.

Here are some stats:

SDW100 - 23hrs 30 mins

12 marathons and Ultras

18 races in total.

Fastest marathon 3.43 (slow by my standards.......I did want to go sub 3.15 this year and never got near to even my PB)

Highest placing: 9th Bewl Water marathon (I won't count the 1st place lost on the last 1.5 miles of the Founders Marathon!)

5 x marathon/ultra top 20 placings

Slowest marathon - Gatliff 50km (actually 58km of mud bath and flood) 8.03 in appalling conditions and still came in 17th!

Fastest race: Stage 11 of Green Belt Relay 7.6 miles in 51 minutes, 6.35s on a cross country course through fields and a highest GBR placing for me of 7th.

Favourite race of the year: SDW100

Total miles so far 2028 miles (3264km) with a week to go.

So, to targets for 2013..............

SDW100 where I will aim for a sub 22 hour 100.

Another 100 to be decided.....

Winter Tanners 30 in a couple of weeks, followed by St Peter's Way 45 mile in Feb. No doubt the Stinger, Bewl and 3FM will feature as they are favourite events. I think that 2300 miles is not unachievable and I would still like to think that I can go a bit quicker........

.....finally a word about Mrs UB. She is in for London Marathon 2013, which will be her 3rd Mara. Support and training provided by Mr UB of course.

Happy Xmas and happy running to everyone!

Catching up with the year behind.......looking ahead 

I purchased some new trail shoes........my second pair of Saucony Peregines gave up the ghost after 2 ultras. Jon Broxap himself had sent me the second pair but with only about 120km in them, they fell apart. So, a switch to a pair of Inov8 Roclite 255 trail shoes. Light, nice wide toe box and near to zero drop.  They feel much more robust, without shirking on protection.

I'm looking back over the last year in the next few days. Looking back at the achievements of the year. At the same time I am going to be looking forward to an even bigger and better year for 2013. I've got 2 firm plans for big runs.....but more of that later.

I've not downloaded my Garmin to the PC for a month or so but my weekly mileage has ensured that I topped 2000 miles for the year a little while ago. That said, the last 5 months has been far less so the first half of the year I was topping 60 miles a week. All said, 12 marathons and ultras including the SDW100, my longest event yet, I am pretty happy with the way the year has panned out. I always feel like I could have done more, trained harder, run faster, thought more. However, 2 years ago I was sat here blogging having been told I would never run a marathon again.....so fair play.

I've just started training again after a few weeks of light running. The Tanners 30 is in 3 weeks. St Peters Way 45 is a few weeks afterwards. Mrs UB will be training for the marathon so we will be training together. I have had an amazing 2012. Can't wait for 2013

Entry to Winter Tanners confirmed

keria in the snow, a photo by ultraBobban on Flickr.

One of the highlights of the year. The LDWA Winter Tanners. £4 entry to the 30 mile event and what an event it is. There is a stellar line up with friends and fantastic ultra runners taking part. Last year was very cold at the start....-3 and the year before it was snow. What will be the conditions for this most excellent round?

The route is different each year but takes in the same landmarks.....Tanners Hatch, some bench for an LDWA founder and Blatchford Down.

What you have to do is follow the instructions as it is very easy to go......"it's this way......" when we've done countless marathons and ultras on the same ground and getting lost is NOT an option!

Confirming my entry to St Peter's Way Ultra

looking landward from Mersea Hard, a photo by ultraBobban on Flickr.

Thankfully Jezza's blog reminded me of the St Peter's Way 45 miler in February and that he is sweeping the event.

I've put my entry in. Now St peter's is the church at the end of the flat coastline of mid-Essex, not too far as the crow flies from my own St Peter.....or my Dad to be precise.....who will be 70, just 4 days after this event.

I think a bottle of St Peter's ale at the end of this event with St Peter himself! My dad loves an ale.....and I'll duly carry one 45 miles to the finish. Shaken, not stirred!